New Women's Professional Soccer League

A new women's professional soccer league, with help from Major League Soccer, will be launched in 2008 with teams in Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago and Washington.

The projected cost of operating each franchise is $1.5 million to $2.5 million a year, Antonucci said.

It would replace the Women's United Soccer Association, which folded in 2003 after three years and attendance that averaged 4,500. Tonya Antonucci, chief executive officer of the Women's Soccer Initiative Inc., made the announcement on Tuesday from her San Francisco office.

"We knew we would get one chance at this relaunch," she said. "We spent a lot of time studying and researching. We knew we had to cut costs to get those in line with actual revenues."

A sixth team, which already has financial backing, will be announced once it has chosen a city to play in, Antonucci said. She hopes to add two more teams in 2009.